Just Desserts

Posted on Tue Aug 18th, 2020 @ 8:28pm by Executive Officer Jake Ford & Chief Helmsman Eden Bowers

Mission: Mission 11 - Prospecting
Location: Eden's Quarters
Timeline: After Jake & Gregnol
948 words - 1.9 OF Standard Post Measure

Jake felt like he was in a strange sort of daze as he arrived back at Eden's quarters - he kept calling them Eden's quarters, but they'd been sharing for weeks anyway. It was sort of shared, but she'd been there first so in his mind they were her quarters that he sort-of stayed in. He knocked lightly on the bulkhead, poking his head around to see if she was there.

"Eden? Are you home?" He asked, loud enough to be heard. "Sorry I'm later than planned. The Captain asked me to stop by, is all. Did I miss dinner?"

She blinked at him but smiled. "It might be a little cold, but I saved it for you." Eden was holding Stan in her hand and glanced from the spider to Jake. "Sorry, I'll put him away. He seemed restless so he thought he might like to have some exercise." She closed the lid on his cage after dropping Stan in. "What did the Captain want to see you about and how is he?"

"Yeah..." Jake scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "So, after everything that happened the last few days, he...well, he asked me to take over as his XO."

Eden stopped what she was doing and straightened up. Her eyes were unsure for a moment but they brightened with excitement. "Jake, that's great news. Congratulations!" She moved toward him quickly, catching him in a big hug. "I can think of no one better for the job. You're smart and kind and can be all scary when you want to protect someone but it's just because you're a big softy on the inside. All important qualities in an XO."

"Aw, well...hey..." He wasn't really sure what to say. "I'm glad you think I'm right for it. Never really had any idea how much joining on with this ship would change me. In a few months I've gone from running the door to a seedy bar in some backwater resort, to first mate on a ship with a beautiful girl and open space every way we look." He had to smile at that. "Lady Luck has been real kind."

"Maybe you just found where you really belong? And we should celebrate." She contemplated that for a moment. "I also have some news and you might not like it. So . . . brace yourself? Maybe you should sit down and eat dinner first, I don't want to ruin your evening."

Jake hesitated. He wondered what she might be talking about. He perched on the edge of the couch, holding on to her hands. "What is it?"

She probably shouldn't have mentioned it first before he ate but it was too late now. "Stan is pregnant. Well specifically I think she laid eggs in her cage which I'm assuming are going to hatch so I guess I should be calling her Stanette. Or Stani? Anyway, I'll find homes for them somehow. Funny, I did think she liked you right? Feels good to be right about something, she did turn out to be a girl."

Jake wasn't sure whether to be relieved or even more worried. The big 'P' word wasn't something he necessarily expected to hear, but knowing that it was Stan - or Steph, or whatever they would need to call her now - was better than the alternative. Wasn't it? He had to think about that for a few seconds. Realising he'd gone silent and not reacted, he blinked. "Oh. That's...good?" He cringed. "I mean, we'll have to figure out how much space that's going to need. And the food requirements." He glanced over at the cage. "I didn't realise spiders didn't need a mate to lay eggs."

"Well she did get out a couple of times. Maybe there is another one on this ship?" She supposed it was a possibility, but mostly it highly amused Eden to see the wheels turning in Jake's head. "We can worry about that later. We're supposed to be celebrating. What would you like to do?"

He didn't want to contemplate the thought of having more spiders lingering about the ship. Rosie was old enough to have a few of them crawling around too - the environmental controls hadn't been updated in well over a decade. "Well, we've missed dinner," he said with a shrug. "There's always dessert?"

"Oh yeah?" Eden said grinning as she moved closer to him. "You're really a sweetheart to put up with Stan, I know you don't like spiders," Eden kissed him.

"I don't like spiders. But he's in a cage over there, and at some point I'm going to use my newfound authority to get Burnie down here to secure it with high explosives, just in case." He said it as a joke, though there was an inkling in the back of his mind that it wasn't such a terrible idea. "Anyway, you like him and that's enough for me. I take all of you, not just the parts I like. Which are many."

"Good," She grinned at him and pulled him toward the bedroom. "I knew I'd made a good decision all those months ago." She ignored the comment about Bernie and the explosives without the eyeroll that might normally have followed. "I don't take it personally. It's big news to find out you're going to be a grandpa."

Jake opened his mouth to complain. Then he recognised the futility of it, his shoulders slumping in surrender. "Yeah." He let her lead him towards the bedroom. "Hey, what about dessert? I'm hungry..." he started, then clicked. "Oh. Oh!" He perked up with a smile and took her hand more fully. "Dessert."

 

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